I was on vacation half of September, and this three-quarters update snuck up on me slightly!  Fortunately, I’ve been doing a lot of challenge reading anyway…

Newbery Medal Winners
Goal: 15 Newbery Medal Winners, to bring myself to half of the total list
Host: Smiling Shelves

I continue to do better with the Newberys than I did in the first quarter, in terms of enjoying the books.  I’m also racking up large numbers of these.  It helps that they’re relatively easy reads, and also that they tend to be brilliant for audiobooks.  I try not to do anything too intense or complicated on audio (driving, you know) so children-friendly Newberys have gone well that way.

Just for fun, this quarter I thought I’d note the year of the Newberys I’ve read.  I need to work on the earliest ones still.  Maybe next quarter!

1. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (1990)
2. The Grey King by Susan Cooper (1976)
3. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (2013)
4. The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (1950)
5. Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt (1967)
6. A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck (2001)
7. Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo (2014)
8. The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare (1962)
9. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (1991)
10. A Gathering of Days by Joan W. Blos (1980)
11. Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (2012)
12. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (1992)
13. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (2002)
14. Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (2000)

Parallel Universes
Goal: 12 books

I’m on track right now to exceed this goal, with so many really interesting parallel universe stories.  I’m fascinated by how different these books can be, while all being within what I thought was a fairly narrow criteria!

1. Pivot Point by Kasie West
2. A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
3. Parallel by Lauren Miller
4. Here, There and Everywhere by Chris Roberson
5. Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
6. The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
7. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
8. Sidewise in Time by Murray Leinster
9. The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood
10. A Crack in the Line by Michael Lawrence

Diversity On the Shelf
Host: The Englishist
Goal: 18 books

I did not do as well on this challenge this quarter.  But I’m still on track, and I managed a few double-challenge books by reading Newberys with minority leads.  I’m actually a little sad to be on track, though…I was hoping 18 books was a low bar, and I’m coming to the conclusion it wasn’t!

1. Otherbound by Corrinne Duyvis (Hispanic)
2. Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (African-American)
3. Stars Above by Marissa Meyer (Unspecified Asian)
4. Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld (Indian)
5. Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed (Pakistani)
6. Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie T. Lamana (African-American)
7. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu (Indian)
8. Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham (African-American Muslim)
9. Bridge of Time by Lewis Buzbee (Chinese)
10. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (Native American)
11. Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen (Vietnamese)
12. Join by Steve Toutonghi (various)
13. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (Korean)
14. Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (African-American)

The Bardathon: Shakespeare Plays
Host: Samantha Lin
Goal: 5 plays read or seen (but ideally, read 5 comedies, read 5 tragedies, and watch 5 movies)

Sadly, not much Shakespeare this quarter, although while on vacation I went to see a live play at the Globe theatre…that counts double, right?  😉  I’ve exceeded my low goal, not feeling strong about my stretch goal, but will hopefully get a bit more of the Bard in before year’s end.

1. Much Ado About Nothing (Joss Whedon production)
2. Comedy of Errors (read)
3. Comedy of Errors (BBC production)
4. Measure for Measure (read)
5. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1996 production)
6. Coriolanus (Gerard Butler production)
7. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (live performance at the Globe)

Carl’s Seasonal “Challenges”: Readers Imbibing Peril somehow began three weeks ago when I wasn’t paying attention…  Focused on horror, this one never fit my reading interests as well as the others, and I’m sitting it out this fall.  Back onto these with the Sci Fi challenge in a few months!

With just a few months left in the year and lots of non-reading things planned for that time (NaNoWriMo, anyone?) I’m still feeling pretty good about my reading goals.  A few more reads at the end of the year and goals are looking pretty attainable.  And after ten parallel universe novels, I’m still really looking forward to reading more… 😉

How has your reading been going for 2016? Are you pursuing challenges?  How are they going?